The purpose of an online marketing flowchart is to illustrate the stages that a customer goes through after discovering your company’s website and making a purchase. It should guide your marketing strategy and offer insights into what drives customers to purchase a product or service.
The following stages represent key points at which you can intervene to drive additional business:
Interest
The initial stage of the funnel is called interest. This is when a customer first arrives at your website and begins to explore your offerings. You can get the most out of this stage by ensuring that your website is structured in the right way. Designing a customer-centered website is a good way to draw in interested parties.
To determine the right audience for your website, consider the type of people who would be interested in your product or service. What are you offering that they want? Once you have identified this need, you can craft an effective strategy to attract these customers.
To illustrate this point, let’s say that you’re an e-commerce store selling clothing. You identify that men in your area are less likely to visit shopping malls and more likely to look online for fashion items. Your website can provide a men’s fashion experience, featuring items from major brands such as Gucci, Ralph Lauren, and more.
Consideration
After a customer has shown some interest and visited your website, you move into the next stage of the funnel, called consideration. This is when they begin to seriously think about making a purchase. To get the most out of this stage, you need to put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself, “What will make them select my product?”
To illustrate this point, let’s say that you’re a car dealer, and you notice that some of your customers have spent a lot of time on your website, looking at everything except for the cars for sale. This is where you can intervene: instead of just having cars for sale on your website, you can integrate a shop window where customers can see all the latest models.
If a customer is considering a purchase but has not yet made one, you can encourage them to make a purchase by offering them a discount. This could be in the form of a coupon code or a special discounted package. The goal is to get them to action and into the final stages of the funnel.
Decision
When users land on your website and begin to explore your products, you’ll have spurred them into the next stage of the funnel. This is where things start to get interesting. At the decision stage, the customer has found what they are looking for and read all the information they need to decide whether or not to make a purchase. To get the most out of this stage, you need to make sure that your website is user-friendly and that the layout is simple and uncluttered. In addition, you can put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask, “Is this the best product for them?”
To illustrate this point, let’s say that you’re a car dealer, and you’ve moved into the decision stage of the funnel. Your customer is interested in buying a certain model of car, but you also have another one that they might want. Should you recommend the latter or the first? You can put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask them, “Which of these cars would you select?”
If you’ve gone through the decision stage and the customer has made up their minds, you can move into the last stage of the funnel, which is action. This is when the customer actually buys the product or service after following your website’s instructions. To get the most out of this stage, you need to make sure that your website is secure, which means avoiding hacks and ensuring that all the information is protected. In addition, you can put yourself in the customers’ shoes and ask, “Have they completed the purchase successfully?” Finally, you can measure the success of your funnel by tracking the results of your online marketing activities, including website analytics and social media metrics.
Reflection
Once a customer has made the purchase and followed your instructions, you can begin to reflect on the effectiveness of your funnel. This is where you can evaluate what has worked well and what needs to be changed to improve results.
You can start by looking back at the decision stage. What happened at this stage? Did the product meet their expectations? Was the purchase successful? Did they feel taken care of by your company? Consider the following questions to get the most out of this stage:
Why did they choose my product/service?
This is the question you need to ask yourself every time you stumble upon a new lead or customer. The answer to this question will guide your future marketing strategy and provide you with invaluable insights into what you should be doing. To illustrate this point, let’s say that you’re a car dealer, and you see that a customer has come to your website looking for a van. You can ask yourself, “Why did they come to my website? What do I know about vans?” A good rule of thumb is to learn as much as you can about your customers, potential or existing.
The key is to try to find the uniqueness that makes them special. By understanding your customers’ needs and wants, you can provide them with the best experience possible. This is the difference between effective and ineffective marketing. One brand of milk is widely known for its unique, creamy texture, and many customers have grown to love it; however, they wouldn’t drink another brand’s milk because it is different.
The uniqueness of your product or service will be different for each customer. This is why you need to find out as much as you can about each individual. Consider the following questions:
What makes them special?
This is not an easy question to answer. Many companies create unique products or offer specialized services because they are good at something specific. Your customers will appreciate your ability to provide them with the best possible service, but it will take some time to figure out what that is. Start by looking at your industry, what is customary, and consider the following questions:
Does my product/service solve a problem?
This is a question you need to ask yourself whenever you stumble upon a new lead or customer. The answer to this question will guide your future marketing strategy and provide you with invaluable insights into what you should be doing. To illustrate this point, let’s say that you’re a car dealer, and you notice that a customer has come to your website looking for a used Porsche. You can ask yourself, “Does my product solve a problem for this type of customer?” You can also ask, “Does this type of customer have problems that my product can solve?”
Pricing, for example, is a problem that many customers have when buying cars. The issue is that they do not know how much car prices change for every year and make of the vehicle. Young consumers especially have this problem because they cannot afford to buy cars; they have to save up for more sophisticated transportation. So, you can see how your product can help solve this problem. Customer service is another area that your product can provide value in. If a customer has a complaint or question about your service, you can put yourself in their shoes and ask, “What did I do wrong? How can I make it right?”
These are the types of questions you need to ask yourself whenever you stumble upon a lead or customer. If you can provide a unique solution to a problem, you can effectively promote your product or service. However, you cannot take for granted that your product will be selected simply because it solves a problem. Always promote the value that your product brings to the table, not just the benefits.
The benefits of your product or service appear clearly in the consideration stage of the funnel. They will appreciate what you’ve done, but the key is to continually convince them that your product is the best one available. This is exactly why you’ve gone through the decision stage: to get to this point.
What is my product/service’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?
This is the one question you need to ask yourself whenever you stumble upon a new lead or customer. The unique selling proposition (USP) of your product or service is what makes it special and sets it apart from other companies in your industry. It is a combination of the following: